Watchdog report: The Louisiana Office of Inspector General released today the annual report on its 2017 operations. The document details the impact of state budget reductions on the office, which functions as a watchdog for state government. The office lost nearly 25%—or four—of its investigative field staff due to budget cuts over several budget cycles prior to last year. Half of those positions have since been restored. View the full report.
Moving on: Andrew Liveris, the longtime chief executive of Dow Chemical, is stepping down. Liveris, announced two years ago he’d retire by mid-2017, but that was delayed until the company named a successor to head its materials-science division, one of three companies that DowDupont will divide itself into. Liveris, 63, will give up his executive chairmanship in April and his role as director in July, when he officially retires, the company says. Jeff Fettig, a longtime independent director, will become executive chairman. Read more.
Soaring: Americans’ wealth pushed further into record territory in the final quarter of last year, thanks to rising stock markets and property prices, The Wall Street Journal reports. Household net worth—the value of all assets minus liabilities like mortgage and credit-card debt—rose more than $2 trillion last quarter to a record $98.746 trillion. That figure is nearly seven times their disposable personal income in 2017, swelling past earlier pre-recession peaks. Read more (subscription may be required).
